You Never Forget
by EverHere
Summary: Jaden has something important to tell Rosh. LSFxRosh.


Author's Note: I'm aware that Rosh is disliked a lot, but there have to be some people that like him, right? So...this story is for the people who wanted a LSFxRosh romance. Thank you for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters.

~~*~*~*~~

You Never Forget

Her purple face tattoos gleamed back at her from the reflection in the mirror as stray morning sun rays slipped through the window. Yavin 4 was always beautiful; the birds had begun their songs of dawn, mists of dew floated around majestically, as the tall trees creaked and stretched in the wake of the sunrise.

Jaden gently brushed back a strand of bronze hair past her head horns and into the coil of hair wrapped firmly around the back of her head. Pulling her face away from the mirror, she quickly straightened her clothing and patted it down before pivoting around and leaving her chambers.

Although Jaden had always thought of herself as Jedi Knight and therefore not needing to care about appearances, lately she had found she spent more time trying to look presentable. Not that it made any difference. She was, however, meeting with Rosh today for some friendly sparring, and she didn't want to show up looking scruffy.

The light tapping of her footsteps echoed slightly down the hallway as she turned the corner to face yet another corridor of stone bricks, moss seeping through the walls. The sight was familiar, but Jaden had been at the Jedi Academy long enough to know all the twists and turns of the Massassi Temple.

Very few people were awake yet, and she only greeted several other fellow Jedi before arriving at the designated meeting place. It was a large room, with nothing spectacular about it, except for the large ceiling-to-floor windows that admitted golden sunlight to stretch across the room, as well as gave an outstanding view of the waterfalls and nature of Yavin for several miles.

Jaden stood still and closed her eyes, basking in the warmth from the sun for several moments.

"You're not going to fall asleep on me, are you?" A familiar and cocky voice asked from behind her, breaking the peace.

She smiled. "I could beat you even if I was sleep-walking."

Jaden turned around to face Rosh, her face brightening at seeing her friend.

He looked like _he _would be the one ready to fall asleep; his clothes were rumpled and his raven-black hair was disheveled. But that was typical of him.

Jaden gracefully strode over to him and smoothed out the front of his tunic to make him look like he had actually bothered to get dressed that morning. She was shaking her head in amusement, when suddenly her face drained of color as she saw that his prosthetic left arm was not in place, just the stub of his arm.

Trying to regain her composure, she calmly asked, "What happened? Where is it?"

Rosh glanced down at his arm, almost having forgotten it wasn't there. "Aw...they just removed it temporarily. I accidentally crushed it when working with some machinery on my last mission. Besides, they wanted to add some upgrades or something to it anyway."

He grinned and shrugged as though it was no big deal, until he became aware that Jaden was staring intently at his arm, her face twisted into a frown.

"Jaden? What's wrong?" He grasped her shoulder tightly with his right hand and lowered his head to look into her eyes.

"It's...it's nothing."

She couldn't have said anything worse that would give it away so easily that she was most definitely _not_ alright.

Rosh's face was worried and his voice full of concern. "Jaden, I don't understand. Did I do something?"

She shook her head. It wasn't him, it was just...the memory. It was only a year ago, but it felt like a lifetime...

Rosh would be begging her not to harm him, and she remembered herself getting angry so quickly, so suddenly. It was boiling up within her. But when Jaden had looked into his eyes, she saw her friend again. That's when she realized she was towering above him with a look of fury upon her face. She wouldn't...she couldn't harm him. The anger left as quickly as it came, and she slumped over in dejection.

_"I'm sorry, Rosh, you're right. I almost let my anger get the best of me. Let's get out of here."_

And then Alora jumped down, seething in rage, and in her attempt to kill Jaden, removed Rosh's arm. Although Jaden knew it was Alora, and saw Alora commit the act every time she envisioned the memory, she felt as though it was her fault anyway. The guilt of her rage towards Rosh had not worn off.

And Jaden hadn't told a soul about the nightmares she had had for the past couple weeks. They were worse. Instead of sparing Rosh, she would strike him down, shouting at him, breaking him. Alora would laugh, and the battle would begin again. The nightmare always ended with Jaden storming off, leaving behind a fallen Alora and a slowly-dying Rosh. Right before she woke up, she would hear Kyle's voice whispering, _"You're a Jedi."_

Then Jaden would jerk awake on her bed, a shriek dying in her throat, and find herself drenched in sweat.

Coming back to the present, Jaden squirmed under Rosh's intense gaze.

"Jaden, I'm your closest friend and that's a terrible lie. You think I can' tell?"

"Look, it's just that...Well, I..." She weakly mumbled.

Rosh's face twisted into a slight grimace as he he suddenly lifted his hand to his ear and tapped his comm.

"This is Rosh...Alright...Now? Uh...sure. Yeah, I'm coming..."

Jaden could hear the faint click coming from his comm as he closed the transmission.

She tilted her head and looked at him curiously, glad for the distraction. "Kyle?"

"Yeah. They want me to come to the med room. I guess...I kinda have to leave. Now, I mean." He placed his hand under her chin and lifted it so she was looking at him. "You gonna be okay?"

Jaden smiled faintly. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

He nodded his head and took off, rushing out the door and turning down the hallway until he was out of view.

Jaden felt her shoulders sag in exhaustion as she sighed. Climbing the small steps to the platform, she took in the view from the windows.

It wasn't that she was trying to be dramatic. It was just that...well, after building a lightsaber on her own before receiving any Jedi training, facing down plenty of Sith, fighting her friend, and finally defeating Tavion and Marka Ragnos...she felt...weak...admitting to Rosh that she was all riled up over nightmares.

But then again, why shouldn't Rosh know? It wasn't as though Jaden was perfect, and that's what had originally led to their mock rivalry in the first place...because he had been frustrated at how _perfect_ she was.

_I shouldn't hide my feelings from him,_ she thought, _It'll only make things worse._

And it was at that moment that she heard the fast tapping of footsteps running across the stone floor, and turned to be engulfed in the swirling fabric and strong arm of Rosh Penin, as he did he best to embrace her.

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?" He whispered into her ear.

Jaden pulled back a little to stare into his face. And then she threw her arms around him and held him tight. As she felt him rest his head on her shoulder, she smiled softly. Thank the Force he had come back.

"No, I'm not. I'm not even close." Jaden spoke calmly as they both pulled apart.

"Ha! See? I knew it! You can't hide it from me, Jaden. I've known you too long." He grinned triumphantly.

Jaden couldn't help but laugh at Rosh's sudden change in mood.

He looked at her sheepishly and then with all seriousness said, "So...uh, what was it? That was bothering you?"

There was a pause as she searched for the words to tell him. It was then that Rosh noticed how close he was to Jaden, with them both in a half-embrace, and it was then that he saw just how lovely her eyes were, hazel and sparkling against the light. As he watched her form the words, he noticed the shape of her face, and the curve of her neck. Her soft hair, and the strong yet smooth shape of her body.

It was then that he noticed that she was...well..._beautiful._

And the thought had never occurred to him before. They were such close friends, he felt like he had never known what she looked like. They had sparred, talked, went walking, gone on missions, made Kyle's life miserable, and done all sorts of other things together. But not once had he ever looked at her so closely, and seen just how striking she was. The one thing that most people saw first, he had just finally seen.

Rosh found himself gaping at her as she finished telling him about her nightmare, and how she imagined herself giving into the Dark Side when she finally confronted him on Taspir III.

"Well?" Jaden asked quietly as waited for his answer.

"I can't make the nightmares go away, Jaden." Rosh told her bluntly as she suddenly stiffened in his arms, "But I can tell you this. You _didn't_ give into the Dark Side. I'm still here. And you...you _saved_ me. If anybody should have guilt, it's me, for being a traitor. No, it's all done now, Jaden. You need to let it go. We're both still here right now, and that's what matters."

He felt Jaden relax in his arms again. "Thanks, Rosh," She smiled mysteriously at him, "But there's another thing about those nightmares that's been bothering me. I feel...I feel like I just realized it right now."

He nodded his head, coaxing her on.

"It just suddenly hit me that...what was bothering me more than anything...was that I lost you."

Jaden's clear voice faded as sudden silence filled the room.

Rosh looked deeply into her eyes, searching, when he placed a hand on the side of her face and gently brushed her cheek with his thumb. He slowly leaned down towards her.

"May I?" He breathed softly.

In response, Jaden closed her eyes and lifted her face to him.

She immediately felt his lips meet hers as he kissed her with sudden fervor, his hand slipping up past her face and into her hair.

Jaden felt her arms wrap themselves around his neck as she pulled him closer to her.

Kyle Katarn briskly walked down the corridor, avoiding all the Jedi that were now swarming the halls, as he headed toward the location where he had last made contact with Rosh. The little R2 droid was scurrying ahead of him, leading him to the site.

"I leave that kid alone for a couple minutes..." He grumbled, "and already he forgets! Didn't I tell him to meet me at the med bay?"

The droid beeped at him, not slowing down from its steady movement.

"Well, didn't I? He's supposed to have his synthetic arm reattached now." He sighed. "Jedi these days...you can't trust them to come on time."

The droid stopped this time, turning its optical sensors to face him this time, and beeping at a very high and fast pace.

"Whoa, whoa! Me? Complaining? I'm not complaining!" Kyle waved the droid on and they continued their path.

They walked a couple more corridors, and then another beep from the droid indicated they were there.

"Here? What's he doing all the way out here?" He questioned.

The droid answered him by taking a sharp turn around the corner and through the doorway, with Kyle at its "heels".

And there was Jaden and Rosh, holding each other tightly and captivated within a deep kiss.

Kyle reacted instantly, covering the droid's optical sensors and silently dragging it back out the doorway and out of sight, their presence gone unnoticed.

"Oh. _That's_ what he was doing." He breathed. "I knew it was gonna happen, but I didn't know it was gonna take so darn long!"

Kyle grinned devilishly.

"Come on, let's head back. Rosh can go without his arm for a day."


End file.
